


Blackmail

by Thei



Series: Babysitting [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: (but secret), (only maybe not as secret as they thought), Babysitting, Blackmail, Established Relationship, Harringrove, M/M, Max knows, Steve is a good boyfriend, billy finds out that max knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 11:47:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17059208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thei/pseuds/Thei
Summary: ”Billyyyyyy!”“Shut up. I'm not taking you to the arcade.”“But–““Dad left me in charge, and he said to stay in the house. So we're staying in the house.”“But they won't be back until tomorrow! If we go out for a little while, they won't have to know. They'll never find out.”





	Blackmail

Billy was lounging in the sofa, watching TV without actually paying attention to it and smoking a cigarette even though Susan – through Neil, probably – would kill him if she saw him smoking in the living room. But Susan wasn't here now. Neither was Neil.

Despite this, there were a lot of things Billy would rather be doing right now; stab himself in the eye with a fork, for example. The reason?

_”Billyyyyyy!”_

A whiny little red-head bitch. Which was also – unfortunately – his goblin of a step-sister.

“Shut up. I'm not taking you to the arcade.”

“But–“

“Dad left me in charge, and he said to stay in the house. So we're staying in the house.”

“But they won't be back until tomorrow! If we go out for a little while, they won't have to know. They'll never find out.”

Billy couldn't even remember how many times he'd thought that Neil wouldn't find out about something, only to be wrong. He wouldn’t take any chances this time, just because Max wanted to go and see her nerdy friends.

He ignored the small voice in his head that said that if he left Max at the arcade for an hour or two, then maybe he could go visit Steve for a while … Because knowing his luck, Susan would call the house at _that exact moment_ , and no one would reply, and Billy would be in deep shit. So no. It simply wasn't worth the risk.

“We're staying in the house. End of discussion.”

He took a drag of the cigarette and blew out smoke in her general direction without taking his eyes off the TV. He heard her frustrated growl as she stomped off down the hallway. A second later, she slammed a door in the other end of the house. He winced, instinctively. She was lucky Neil wasn't home. Or, rather, _he_ was lucky Neil wasn't home. Neil didn't like slamming doors (unless he was the one doing the slamming) and Billy's sure that Max's bad mood would somehow have ended up being his fault.

It probably _was_ his fault, to be honest. Not that he cared. If he had to spend his Friday night miserable between these four walls, then it was only fair that she had to, as well. Misery loves company, or some shit like that. Not that he wanted her company. He'd be honestly grateful if she was pissed enough to just stay in her room and leave him alone for the rest of the night.

Half an hour passed, maybe, and Billy was practically dozing in front of the TV when there was a knock at the door. He dragged a hand over his face and got to his feet when it didn't sound like Max was going to come out of her room to answer it.

When he opened the door and saw who was standing there, he blinked. This had to be some kind of prank, because _Max wouldn't be that bold_.

“No”, he said simply and slammed the door in Sinclair's face.

He'd just turned around to walk back to the living room when there was a second knock. He thought about ignoring it, but Max's head peeked around the corner and she asked, looking way too innocent to not have had anything to do with this, “Who was at the door?”

Billy's eyes narrowed. “Did you tell him to come here?”

“No.” Max's eyes shifted to the side, which meant that she was definitely lying.

Another knock, which was ignored by both of them as Billy took a step towards her and hissed, “You can't have him come to the house! Dad would freak out of he knew!”

“He's not gonna know! We're alone here until tomorrow, Billy, and I don't feel like spending all that time with you!”

“Same, brat, which is why you'll fucking stay in your room!”

“Billy, _come on_ ...” Max had come out into the hallway and was walking closer. “He never said that we weren't allowed to have people over. He only said to stay in the house!”

“And when are we ever allowed to have people over, _Maxine_? You know what would happen if dad found out? You can be so fucking stupid!” He turned and walked back to the door as Sinclair knocked a fourth time. “Just because dad and Susan isn't home, it doesn't mean you can just have your little boyfriend come over!”

Yanking the door open, he opened his mouth to tell Sinclair to fuck off, but the words got stuck in his throat when Sinclair – wide-eyed and looking like a deer in headlights – reached out the side and dragged a confused-looking Steve into Billy's field of vision.

“Uh”, Steve said. “Hi?”

Billy's moth opened and closed, and then he promptly shut the door in both their faces.

Ignoring the protests from Sinclair and the way he could see Steve's hair through the yellow window in the door, he whirled around and pointed at Max, who was a few steps behind him.

“What the fuck, Maxine?” he hissed, low, as if Neil was around and could hear him.

_“What?”_

Billy stared at her like she was crazy. “What the _fuck_ is he doing here?!”

“Lucas?” Max said innocently, and oooh how Billy wanted to strangle her right now. “He's here to visit me. Since he knows I don't wanna be alone here with you! So he came to visit me like a _good boyfriend_!”

Her stance was challenging, and there was a fire in her eyes that almost made Billy back down. Almost, but not completely. Because Billy had a fire in him, too.

“Not Sinclair, I know perfectly well what that twerp is doing here. I mean Steve!”

Max clenched her jaw, and something in her eyes turned defiant. “Maybe he's here to be a good boyfriend, too.”

Billy's blood ran cold. Out of everything that could have come out of her mouth, that was the last thing he'd expected.

“What”, he said, and it was barely above a whisper. His whole body was tense, so tense that he couldn't move.

Max seemed to hunch down a little, and she cast a worried look at the door behind him. “I mean ... I thought that ... You know, maybe I could hang with Lucas and you could hang with Steve ...?”

Thoughts swirling in his head, Billy couldn't even manage a coherent sentence. “You– what did you– Max, you can't!” He found himself shaking, and his heartbeat sounded like war drums in his ears.

“Billy?” And now Max sounded worried. “It's okay, I ... I won't tell.”

He could barely hear her, the panic making him light-headed. Another knock at the door, and they both swirled around to stare at it.

Billy couldn't breathe. _She knew_. She was gonna tell her friends, and let something slip to Neil, and Billy was gonna die. Neil was gonna kill him. She fucking _knew_.

Something touched his hand, and he flinched so hard that he bumped into the wall. Looking down, he saw that Max was standing there with her hand outstretched. Slowly, she came closer and touched her hand to his. He wanted to slap it away, he wanted to sneer and say something mean, but –

– but Steve was outside the door, and Sinclair was outside the door, and Max _knew_ , and Billy was so fucked.

“I won't tell Neil”, Max said, softly, squeezing his hand. Then she gave him a meaningful look and raised her eyebrows. “If you don't.”

“Huh?”

“I won't tell Neil about Steve being here”, she clarified. “If _you_ don't tell him about _Lucas_ being here.”

 _This was blackmail!_ Billy was being _blackmailed_.

The realization strangely made him snap out of his panic. Blackmail, he could deal with.

He snatched his hand out of Max's and straightened up. Looked her over with narrowed eyes. She knew about Steve. She said _boyfriend_ , and she meant it. She definitely knew. If Neil found out, Billy would be dead. But maybe – maybe Neil _didn't_ have to find out. Because Max knew about Billy and Steve, but Billy knew about her and Sinclair, too.

The two of them were too busy staring at each other to care about yet another, somewhat impatient-sounding, knock at the door.

“You don't tell Neil about Steve”, Billy eventually hissed. “And I don't tell him about Sinclair. If Neil finds out about either, we're both dead, do you understand?”

Him more than Max, probably, and they both knew it. But Max nodded.

“Do we have a deal?” Billy said. He needed her to say it.

She spit in her hand and held it out for him to shake. “Deal.”

He leaned away from her outstretched hand with a look of horror on his face. “What the fuck, Maxine?”

She had the nerve to look offended. “It's like a blood oath, without the blood!”

He turned back to the door, but looking at her over his shoulder as if she'd sprouted a second head. “It's _disgusting_ , is what it is.”

When he yanked the door open, Steve was still standing there, and Sinclair was standing next to him with his hand raised as if to knock again. Billy's eyes narrowed, Sinclair's widened, and Steve just smiled.

“Hi”, he said as if they hadn't just been left standing on the porch for a couple of minutes.

“Get in”, Billy said between clenched teeth and without taking his eyes off Sinclair, who – he was pleased to note – kept Steve between Billy and himself the entire time. Maybe he wasn't _quite_ as stupid as Billy had thought, after all.

Max saved her boyfriend from Billy's stare by grabbing his hand and dragging him towards her room.

“Keep the door open!” Billy yelled after them.

“Oh my god, _whatever_!” was Max's reply. But the door to her room didn't fully close after they disappeared inside, so Billy had no reason to storm after them.

Instead, he closed the front door, and then he sagged against Steve and leaned his head against his boyfriend’s chest. Steve laughed and – after only a few seconds hesitation – patted him on the head.

“What was that about?”

Billy groaned. “I'm dead, Steve.”

Steve hummed and put an arm around him. “You look pretty okay for a dead guy.”

Billy turned his head so he could glare at Steve. “I look more than okay!”

“Hey, I _did_ say you were pretty.”

“You said I look _pretty okay_ , Steve. That's not the same thing.”

“Fine, fine. _You're pretty_. Happy?”

“No”, Billy said. When he spoke next, it was in a whisper, while pulling Steve by the hand into the living room. “She knows, Steve. Max knows!”

“Knows what?”

Billy looked down pointedly at their intertwined fingers.

“Oh.”

“Yeah – _oh_.”

They sat down in the sofa, still holding hands, and Steve absent-mindedly rubbed his thumb over Billy's hand. “Well, I'm sure that if you ask her to keep it quiet, she won't tell anyone.”

Billy leveled him with another look. “She hates me.”

“She doesn't hate you. You've been much more bearable lately!”

“Well that's just because–“ Billy started, but snapped his mouth shut before he could finish.

“What?” Steve prompted, and smiled when Billy's cheeks started to redden.

“Nothing.”

“Come on. It's because ... what?”

Billy lurched forward so his forehead rested against Steve's chest again. When he spoke, it was muffled in Steve's sweater. “You.”

Steve's smile broadened. “You're more bearable because of me?”

“I don't know!” Billy said, still to Steve's chest. “It's just ... easier with you.”

“What is?”

Billy glanced up. “Everything.”

Steve put a hand on the back of his head and leaned down to give him the gentlest of kisses. Billy could feel him smiling against his lips, and got all warm – not just his cheeks this time, although he was sure he was still blushing. _Dammit._

The mood was broken by an obnoxious voice from the doorway.

“I don't see why Lucas and I have to keep the door open if _you’re_ the ones who're gonna be disgusting.”

Billy and Steve sprung apart; Billy straightened up in the sofa, and Steve floundered like a fish out of water, trying and failing to look casual. Max looked smug, the little creep, but Sinclair was thankfully nowhere to be seen.

“Go shut the damn door”, Billy said between clenched teeth.

“I will”, Max replied, looking like a cat who just knocked something off the table and was proud of it. “I was just getting drinks for me and Lucas.”

With that, she strutted towards the kitchen, and Billy chanced a look at Steve. Steve looked ruffled, but not panicked, and there was a faint blush tainting his cheeks now, too. Billy decided that he liked it.

“Sinclair!” he bellowed in the general direction of the hallway.

A couple of seconds passed, and then Sinclair peeked out from the doorway, just in time for Max to get back, carrying two sodas.

“If you touch her”, Billy said, slowly, “I will kill you.”

Sinclair's eyebrows shot up and he actually took a step back from Max. Steve snorted, and added, “He means if you touch her _inappropriately_.”

Sinclair's eyes flitted from Steve to Max to Billy, and while Billy shrugged, his eyes still said _“no I don't”_. Sinclair visibly gulped. Max took pity on him and pulled him from the doorway with a roll of her eyes and a “Come on Lucas, let's leave these losers alone.”

When they were gone, Billy raised an eyebrow.

“You undermining my authority with my sister, Harrington?”

“Nope”, Steve said, unapologetically, “I'm making sure you don't give the kid a heart-attack. Wouldn't wanna do that to your future brother-in-law.”

Billy punched him in the arm. “What?! No! _Ew!_ ”

Steve laughed while Billy made fake gagging noises. “Why would you _say_ that? You're a _horrible_ boyfriend.”

At that, Steve's laugh tapered off and his grin softened into a smile – a smile just for Billy. And Billy, who had never been able to resist those smiles, couldn't help but return it.

“If it makes you feel better”, Steve said in a low voice, gently dragging a finger down Billy's arm, “I'll help you kill anyone who touches her in a bad way. I've lived in Hawkins all my life, I know lots of places to hide a body.”

Now it was Billy's turn to laugh.

“I take it back”, he said, leaning in to give Steve a quick kiss on the lips. “You're a _good_ boyfriend.”

**Author's Note:**

> Help. I can't stop writing silly babysitting-related fics.


End file.
